Farewell to Tilff | RALLERY

I have a love-hate relationship with Belgium. Some good Belgian friends of mine organise this little event and they use the funds it raises to help them attend pretty much every UK national rally. I like to support the things they put on as much as possible but I hate the featureless roads leading from our usual ferry (Hull-Zeebrugge) to Tilff, a small but pretty town a few miles from Liege.

Even so, I’ve covered the 140-mile, monotonous motorway route many times over the last decade or so. Our progress is usually hampered by a large night on the party boat on the Thursday night, this year was no different but it would be my final visit to Tilff. Next year sees a new venue in the heart of the picturesque Ardenne region of Belgium.

After exiting the early morning ferry along with 40 or so other scooters our band of five headed off to meet a couple more friends for breakfast in Brugge. A €60 omelette for two in the centre of Brugge is a great way to wake you up in a morning. Expensive but tasty breakfast over with we joined the nasty motorway and headed towards Liege. 

They do things differently on the continent, for instance every fuel station on the motorway sells local beer, Jupiler and the drinking of it is positively encouraged. To be fair this journey would be more pleasurable whilst intoxicated (don’t try it at home though kids). Just to show appreciation of our continental cousins traditions we obliged with a small can at our last fuel stop. Sweltering in 30º heat we were all ready for a drink and any alcohol consumed quickly evaporated before we set off again.  

The final few miles of the journey turn from washed out greyness to greenery, as lush forests spring up out of nowhere and twisty roads replace the straights. We’re soon riding into the familiar riverside town and the chateau where the rally is held. Greeted by friends from the UK and Europe as we arrive. 

I said earlier that they do things differently abroad and this rally is hosted by Olivier & Michelle, Fabian & Maude, Stefan & Camille. The six faces are responsible for everything, they run the bars, serve the beer make and serve the food, man the door, DJ, look after the campsite, look after the guests and clean up once it’s all over. They have a few friends (Yyves and Mike amongst others) to help out but the majority is done by those six. They work tirelessly around the clock. 

The rally has been going since 2005 and like many of the regulars who attend I’ve been to many of them. The Scottish contingent are always present, as are the Dirty Mills (almost 30 of them in total), then the odd few groups of friends from around the country and the occasional club, plus a smattering of local, French, German, Austrian and Flemish scooterists.  

Olivier and Yyves at 4.30am, still an hour or so to go…

If you’re expecting a large scale British style rally you’d be better off visiting the Isle of Wight. If you want a low-key weekend with good friends in a nice location, a small continental rally like Tilff is a great choice. Don’t expect thousands of people (there were less than 130 there during the weekend), bands, stalls, a dyno or anything more than good company, beer and a disco.

There is a campsite next door to the venue and a few guest rooms above the chateau but we opted for one of the only holiday flats in the village, just a short stroll across the square, overlooking the river.

Friday night was the main party night for most, a busy dance floor until 6am, great tunes and plentiful Jupiler at a Euro a glass. You could tell it was a good night when we were shouting for more when the disco stopped as the sun rose. Followed by a party back at ours until 9.30am, it seemed like a good idea but left us a bit tired for the rest of Saturday.

Raphael wins the coveted best drunk trophy

Saturday evening sees the free aperitifs and trophy celebrations, all lighthearted but competitive nonetheless, especially the best dancer and best drunk trophies. Sarah Swain from York won best dancer, whilst Raphael won best drunk for his Friday night antics. He was buying us all vodka at 5.30am. 

The party took a while to get started due to hangovers, tiredness and people staying in town until late but it got going later on and most people enjoyed themselves. Even the lad pictured above who was so upset not to have been featured on SLUK that he took it to heart and ripped his free t-shirt up in disgust. Not the best way to get your photo taken I assure you. 

Fabio from Bordeaux tries Banana Daz’s glitzy Euro jacket on for size and promptly splits the seam, you know a night is going well once this jacket starts doing the rounds. 

The following morning didn’t quite go to plan, I noticed the tell-tale gubbins of a knackered drive belt sticking out of my GTS casings. Thankfully a Flemish friend was still at the venue, he runs a scooter shop the other side of Brussels and arranged for his mechanic, Robbe to come in (they don’t open on a Sunday) and replace the belt once the recovery wagon could get me to the shop. Fantastic news, as we had a night in Ypres planned. It took over four hours to get recovered and we finally got to the shop for 5.45pm, where Robbe was waiting for us. A great service at the impressive scooter shop.

The belt was only 2500 miles old, so I was puzzled as to how it may have worn so quickly. Robbe soon sussed it out though, he found a small washer inside the casing. It had rubbed between the belt and casing, slowly stripping the belt. I’d felt a nasty vibration on acceleration but put it down to a warped rear disc.

6.30pm my passenger gets ready for a mad thrash to Ypres

If you’re ever in the area United Scooters in Halle (near Brussels) is a fantastic shop, it puts many of our shops to shame. They have a great selection of scooters but also a vinyl record department, great clothing range and plenty to look at. 

Thankfully we rode through here a few minutes before the band arrived

We made it to Ypres just in time for hundreds of tourists to gather for the 8pm last post ceremony at the Menen Gate. Not perfect timing really as we had to ride through the gate feeling quite self conscious with the loud Scorpion exhaust reverberating off the names of the dead inscribed on the walls. Black visor down and gun it. 

Anything you like as long as it’s chicken & bread

After a good night in Ypres we headed back to Zeebrugge for the overnight ferry home, calling at Ostende for lunch on the way. By coincidence we passed a group of Vespas as we entered the town and recognised a couple of the people from the Vespa Club of Britain so stopped for a chat. They’d been to Belgian Vespa Days in Ath and were on their way back to Calais. They introduced us to Manu Mommerency, President of the Ostende Vespa Club and before we knew it he was leading the way on his Vespa 50 Special to a fine eating establishment I’d last visited almost 20 years ago. A place worth a visit if you like chicken and bread, because that’s all you can get. No chips, no salad, no butter for your bread. Just chicken and bread but it’s beautiful.  

Happy ending

That’s it, another Euro adventure comes to a happy ending. The final Tilff is over but, as I mentioned earlier the Liege Scooter Tribe have a new venue planned for next September. It’ll be a self-contained hotel based event in the stunning Ardenne region of Belgium, held over the weekend of 8-9th September. As usual the Belgians will run the whole lot, including the rooms for 200 guests. Details will be announced soon but due to its size it’s likely to be a ticket only affair. 

I have a love-hate relationship with Belgium. Some good Belgian friends of mine organise this little event and they use the funds it raises to help them attend pretty much every UK national rally. I like to support the things they put on as much as possible but I hate the featureless roads leading from our usual ferry (Hull-Zeebrugge) to Tilff, a small but pretty town a few miles from Liege.

 

Even so, I’ve covered the 140-mile, monotonous motorway route many times over the last decade or so. Our progress is usually hampered by a large night on the party boat on the Thursday night, this year was no different but it would be my final visit to Tilff. Next year sees a new venue in the heart of the picturesque Ardenne region of Belgium.

After exiting the early morning ferry along with 40 or so other scooters our band of five headed off to meet a couple more friends for breakfast in Brugge. A €60 omelette for two in the centre of Brugge is a great way to wake you up in a morning. Expensive but tasty breakfast over with we joined the nasty motorway and headed towards Liege. 

 

They do things differently on the continent, for instance every fuel station on the motorway sells local beer, Jupiler and the drinking of it is positively encouraged. To be fair this journey would be more pleasurable whilst intoxicated (don’t try it at home though kids). Just to show appreciation of our continental cousins traditions we obliged with a small can at our last fuel stop. Sweltering in 30º heat we were all ready for a drink and any alcohol consumed quickly evaporated before we set off again.  

The final few miles of the journey turn from washed out greyness to greenery, as lush forests spring up out of nowhere and twisty roads replace the straights. We’re soon riding into the familiar riverside town and the chateau where the rally is held. Greeted by friends from the UK and Europe as we arrive. 

 

I said earlier that they do things differently abroad and this rally is hosted by Olivier & Michelle, Fabian & Maude, Stefan & Camille. The six faces are responsible for everything, they run the bars, serve the beer make and serve the food, man the door, DJ, look after the campsite, look after the guests and clean up once it’s all over. They have a few friends (Yyves and Mike amongst others) to help out but the majority is done by those six. They work tirelessly around the clock. 

The rally has been going since 2005 and like many of the regulars who attend I’ve been to many of them. The Scottish contingent are always present, as are the Dirty Mills (almost 30 of them in total), then the odd few groups of friends from around the country and the occasional club, plus a smattering of local, French, German, Austrian and Flemish scooterists.  

Olivier and Yyves at 4.30am, still an hour or so to go…

If you’re expecting a large scale British style rally you’d be better off visiting the Isle of Wight. If you want a low-key weekend with good friends in a nice location, a small continental rally like Tilff is a great choice. Don’t expect thousands of people (there were less than 130 there during the weekend), bands, stalls, a dyno or anything more than good company, beer and a disco.

 

There is a campsite next door to the venue and a few guest rooms above the chateau but we opted for one of the only holiday flats in the village, just a short stroll across the square, overlooking the river.

 

Friday night was the main party night for most, a busy dance floor until 6am, great tunes and plentiful Jupiler at a Euro a glass. You could tell it was a good night when we were shouting for more when the disco stopped as the sun rose. Followed by a party back at ours until 9.30am, it seemed like a good idea but left us a bit tired for the rest of Saturday.

Raphael wins the coveted best drunk trophy

Saturday evening sees the free aperitifs and trophy celebrations, all lighthearted but competitive nonetheless, especially the best dancer and best drunk trophies. Sarah Swain from York won best dancer, whilst Raphael won best drunk for his Friday night antics. He was buying us all vodka at 5.30am. 

 

 

The party took a while to get started due to hangovers, tiredness and people staying in town until late but it got going later on and most people enjoyed themselves. Even the lad pictured above who was so upset not to have been featured on SLUK that he took it to heart and ripped his free t-shirt up in disgust. Not the best way to get your photo taken I assure you. 

Fabio from Bordeaux tries Banana Daz’s glitzy Euro jacket on for size and promptly splits the seam, you know a night is going well once this jacket starts doing the rounds. 

The following morning didn’t quite go to plan, I noticed the tell-tale gubbins of a knackered drive belt sticking out of my GTS casings. Thankfully a Flemish friend was still at the venue, he runs a scooter shop the other side of Brussels and arranged for his mechanic, Robbe to come in (they don’t open on a Sunday) and replace the belt once the recovery wagon could get me to the shop. Fantastic news, as we had a night in Ypres planned. It took over four hours to get recovered and we finally got to the shop for 5.45pm, where Robbe was waiting for us. A great service at the impressive scooter shop.

The belt was only 2500 miles old, so I was puzzled as to how it may have worn so quickly. Robbe soon sussed it out though, he found a small washer inside the casing. It had rubbed between the belt and casing, slowly stripping the belt. I’d felt a nasty vibration on acceleration but put it down to a warped rear disc.

6.30pm my passenger gets ready for a mad thrash to Ypres

If you’re ever in the area United Scooters in Halle (near Brussels) is a fantastic shop, it puts many of our shops to shame. They have a great selection of scooters but also a vinyl record department, great clothing range and plenty to look at. 

Thankfully we rode through here a few minutes before the band arrived

We made it to Ypres just in time for hundreds of tourists to gather for the 8pm last post ceremony at the Menen Gate. Not perfect timing really as we had to ride through the gate feeling quite self conscious with the loud Scorpion exhaust reverberating off the names of the dead inscribed on the walls. Black visor down and gun it. 

Anything you like as long as it’s chicken & bread

After a good night in Ypres we headed back to Zeebrugge for the overnight ferry home, calling at Ostende for lunch on the way. By coincidence we passed a group of Vespas as we entered the town and recognised a couple of the people from the Vespa Club of Britain so stopped for a chat. They’d been to Belgian Vespa Days in Ath and were on their way back to Calais. They introduced us to Manu Mommerency, President of the Ostende Vespa Club and before we knew it he was leading the way on his Vespa 50 Special to a fine eating establishment I’d last visited almost 20 years ago. A place worth a visit if you like chicken and bread, because that’s all you can get. No chips, no salad, no butter for your bread. Just chicken and bread but it’s beautiful.  

Happy ending

 

That’s it, another Euro adventure comes to a happy ending. The final Tilff is over but, as I mentioned earlier the Liege Scooter Tribe have a new venue planned for next September. It’ll be a self-contained hotel based event in the stunning Ardenne region of Belgium, held over the weekend of 8-9th September. As usual the Belgians will run the whole lot, including the rooms for 200 guests. Details will be announced soon but due to its size it’s likely to be a ticket only affair. 

The end of Tilff...

Broken passenger after Thursday night on the ferry

Ostende Vespa Club president Manu

Jupiler for the road?

Vinyl & scooters, perfect

From bar to DJ, Fabian is one of the Liege crew

The Scots are partial to cherry Kriek (or meths)

These Jolly Boys weren't as jolly as they look

Whoops...

That washer shouldn't be in there